Interview Wound Collector

Peter, a classically trained musician, merges saxophone with death metal in Wound Collector. His passion for both genres fuels this unique fusion.

1. How did the concept of merging saxophone with death metal come about, and what inspired you to pursue this unique fusion?

Peter : Actually I’m a classically trained musician with several conservatory diplomas and lots of orchestra and chamber music experience. My heart has always truly beaten for death metal as it is the music that moves me most. When I was young I played bass guitar in a band but just didn’t cut it for me. The saxophone is an extension of my body so the speak, it’s the language I speak best. Therefore in my head it makes perfect sense to combine saxophone and death metal.

2. Peter, as the founder and saxophonist of Wound Collector, how do you approach incorporating saxophone into a genre typically dominated by guitars and growling vocals?

Peter: For Wound Collector I use the tenor sax which makes it easy to play both solos or melodies and go along with the rhythm guitars as well. Most of the time I take the part of the lead guitar but since Poncho joined the band I like to go along with the other guitar and bass parts as well.

3. Guy, Poncho, and Stijn, coming from diverse musical backgrounds, how does this influence the creative process within Wound Collector, especially when crafting the intricate layers of your sound?

Guy: It's precisely the diverse nature of our tastes and interests that all adds that extra layer of spice to our flavour. Peter does all the heavy lifting concerning writing and arranging the songs. We just add our playing style to the mix. And if we write tracks, then everything goes into the Wound Collector blender and what comes out will always sound like us. Consistency is the key and if it doesn't fit, it doesn't get used or we change it so the final result does feel like one of our tracks. There's always tweaking involved, but the blueprint will usually shine through. Besides, we all like metal in its various guises, so throwing in some stuff coming from different genres makes it more fun to play. We have some Balkan in there, some Latin stuff, … In the end, it will always be brutal, but me personally, I have never understood sticking to only 'genre' items. Variety makes things stay interesting and alive if you toss it all in a blender.

4. Nico, having been with Wound Collector since 2018, how do you contribute to the band's distinctive blend of epic saxophonised death metal, especially considering your background in other death metal projects?

Nico: I hit the skins and make the coffee!

5. "Begging For Chicxulub" is your latest EP. Could you share the thematic inspirations behind the tracks, particularly focusing on the title track "Chicxulub"?

Peter: Chicxulub is the name of the meteor that set the eradication of dinosaus in motion. While at one hand we are describing our version of how we think it could have happened, at the other hand we are actually “begging for Chicxulub” to come back and destroy us like it did with the dinosaurs. Humanity didn’t do a good job at maintaining the planet, you know. Especially with the climate crisis and the amounts of waste we produce it feels symbolic to make a new start as a race.

In ”River Of Scalded Corpses” we describe the biggest boat accident recorded in American history when the USS Sultana got on fire in the middle of a big river during a Winter night. This disaster was documented only briefly because the Americans were already fed up with the news of the Civil War. More American history is sung about in “Dehumanized By The Auburn System” which is about the prison system of the late 19the century up till the 60’ies. “Progress Through Dishonor” tells the story of Russian scientist Vladimir Demikhov who performed gruesome experiments on animals in order to learn more about transplantations.

6. Your music videos often carry a strong visual narrative. How important is storytelling for Wound Collector, and how do you ensure that your visuals align with the intensity of your music?

 Guy: All songs are stories in essence. This goes double for us, because our lyrics deal with historical facts. So you need something to get that across as well. It's useful when Peter already has ideas in his head about how something has to look on screen. If you have a song like 'Seduced Into Depravity' which talks about legendary exotic dancer/spy Mata Hari, you need to have that seductive and lethal edge, so you get a female dancer to play the character. When singing about the massive comte that struck the Earth and nearly wiped out all life, you need those images of natural destruction and chaos. Even though the added layer is how about the world at times seems so screwed, you'd almost wish for another comet to impact the planet so it could start over fresh.

7. With guest vocals from Tommy Dahlströhm of Aeon on "Depravity," how do collaborations like these enhance the overall dynamics of your albums?

Guy: The basic point is that it always has to add something to the track. You could put together an entire album with guest appearances, but if it doesn't add to the song, then what's the point to start with? And seeing as some of us have been Aeon fans for a while, it felt like a good choice to get Tommy to do some growling. He was easily approachable as well, which makes it all the more fun. For some people, you need to jump through an insane amount of hoops (management or otherwise) before they even know you exist. Here, it was a simple question and a while later: done!

8. Peter, you've had an extensive career as a saxophonist, spanning various genres. How does your classical training influence your approach to creating and performing death metal with Wound Collector?

Peter: In fact I take a lot of my experiences into Wound Collector. When we record my saxophone solos in the studio it’s always surprising how much influence from balkan is inside of them. Also free jazz and free impro is carried out regularly in the songs but always aim to have the sax parts intertwined within the songs in a suiting style and manner. While composing a often use classical forms. For instance the song “Death By Guillotine” from our second album is actually a baroque rondo.

9. The band's lineup has evolved over the years. How does this evolution affect the band's sound and dynamics, and what strengths does each member bring to Wound Collector?

Guy: Every member brings something to the table and we all have our strengths and weaknesses, but as a unit, we function with deadly precision. People sometimes leave for various reasons, but you should always look ahead. And we now have had a really solid line-up for a while. Peter's a friggin' genius on a level of musicianship I can't even begin to fathom, which is fun because he writes cool tunes. :-p Stijn is probably one of the best bass players out there with a really cool style; Poncho has the soaring lead chops and Nico is a bloody machine. I once jokingly referred to him as the Belgian Flo Mounier, but that actually isn't far from the truth in skill and tightness. I'm just a tight rhythm player with a big mouth, so I'm playing catch-up, but it does force me to keep on improving and I need that kick in the backside or I probably would have never left the three-chord-chug back in the day.

10. In your live performances, how do you recreate the studio sound of Wound Collector, especially with the complexity of saxophone integrated into the music?

Guy: That isn't too difficult, actually. I mean, sure: we don't have the occasional bass saxophone, but we pride ourselves in putting to disc the things we can play live. There's no backingtracks, no extra layers that we could never recreate live. We're a meat-and-potatoes band, so what we bring live isn't thàt different from the record, except you can see us going bananas on stage. Our albumsound and stagesound are fairly close together. Some bands sound vastly different live from their albums, but I'm fairly certain we stay consistent.

11. Can you share any memorable moments or challenges you've faced as a band, either in the studio, on tour, or during live performances?

Guy: Suddenly not being able to play decently as soon as that 'Record'-light is up? XD Speaking for myself, I always get way too nervous in the studio. It's fun hearing songs truly come together, but getting there is nerve-wracking at times. For me, at least. I can say that life is now a lot easier since we've added Poncho, because before that I had to lay down all the guitatracks and that is exhausting at times. Now it's split more evenly. Doing vocals is more fun for me, because I can lay them down rapidly and pretty consistently as well.

Peter : One of the biggest challenges we face is getting booked by organisors who haven’t seen us live before. Many of them think the saxophone is a bit too curious or experimental fort heir audience. But once they’ve seen us live they usually are pursuaded to book us anyway and give it a shot.

12. Looking ahead, what are your aspirations for Wound Collector, both musically and in terms of reaching new audiences or exploring new territories within the metal genre?

Guy: Reach higher is probably the biggest thing. First and foremost playing live a lot and steadily doing bigger venues or festivals. That is the main thing for me. Sure, having a label backing us to take care of promo and all the less rock 'n' roll things would be great, but I just want to play live so that more and more people can enjoy what we bring to the table.

Peter : Musically I’d like to bring a bit more edge tot he table still. Wound Collector has a great line-up of skilled musicians and I want to explore these skill further. It will always be a form of death metal but there’s a whole playground there that I still want to figure out more and more.

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